Mr. Darrell's [NOW RETIRED] Wayback Machine [GO TO THE NEW ONE]

Welcome to the study of history in Mr. Darrell’s classroom at Molina High School, Dallas, Texas.

This site will help students understand and appreciate world history, have some fun in studying the material, and provide help in preparing for the tests in the course, for the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS), and for the SAT and ACT.

Pictured in the header: The contents of President Abraham Lincoln’s pockets on the night he was shot. Photo from the Library of Congress, America’s Story section.

Do you carry money or a favorite photo in your pocket? How about eyeglasses? The things we carry often hold clues to who we are and what’s important to us. When Abraham Lincoln was assassinated on April 14, 1865, at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C., he had all the things you see in this picture in his pockets.

On that night, Lincoln was carrying two pairs of eyeglasses, a lens polisher, a pocketknife, a linen handkerchief, a watch fob, a brown leather wallet with a $5 Confederate note, and nine newspaper clippings. You might carry some of the same things today–eyeglasses and a wallet are pretty common–but you probably don’t have a $5 Confederate note in your pocket.

The photo also includes a newspaper reporting President Lincoln’s assassination.